We Will, We Are
by openlyred
Summary: There's been an accident. AkuRoku, SoRi, Shounen-Ai.


**We Will, We Are**

**By Openlyred **

The bus was full. Literally full to the brim. Roxas had managed to snag one of the last seats, right at the back, where the cool kids used to sit on class field trips. He sat quietly, ipod plugged in, watching his fellow commuters as they swayed and tilted with the movement of the bus. There was the older man with grey-streaked hair and an eyepatch, surreptitiously giving the busty brunette beside him the occasional glance. The teenage girls, one blond, the other ash-brown, gossiping furiously between themselves.

In front of Roxas sat a pair of boys that he knew from the year above. Sora and Riku. Boyfriends. Head jock and the school's darling. Riku had his arm slung around Sora, and the brunette had given Roxas a warm smile when he walked past to get to his seat. Sora had no enemies – everyone loved him. Riku was cold and aloof, but was obviously in love with the other boy, so no one saw any reason to be afraid of him. Roxas' heart panged – his own boyfriend had, a few weeks earlier, decided he was straight, dumped Roxas, and began dating their best girl friend. He couldn't look either Hayner or Olette in the eye, and seemed to do most of his communicating with them via Pence, the poor guy trapped in the middle.

And then, at the back of the bus, were the Alternative Kids. Three guys that usually reserved the back of the bus for themselves. They had glared at Roxas as he had taken his place, for he had dared to intrude upon their realm. Whatever. The lanky redhead, who seemed to be the ringleader, had his long legs sprawled down most of the bench, one leather boot covered foot nearly on Roxas' thigh. His face had drop tattoos under both eye, and piercings in his lip and nose glinted in the morning sun. He was laughing with his friends, who sat in front of him, turned so they could face him. One was slim, with a blond Mohawk-mullet (Roxas wasn't really sure what it was, to be honest...), and the other was obviously a damn sight shorter, probably around Roxas' height, with blue-grey hair. The blue-haired one wasn't really looking at the redhead, his eyes instead trained on his blond companion (from what Roxas could tell – his back was turned to Roxas) while he spoke animatedly, gesturing wildly. They looked like they were excited about something.

With a sigh, Roxas switched to the next song on his ipod. And then the world tilted, there was a starbust of light, and then it all fell away into nothing.

**qp qp**

When he next woke up, Roxas couldn't have said how much time had passed. Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days. He didn't know. Around him was the sound of creaking, soft whispers, sobs and some movement. He breathed, and his lungs burned. He tried to sit up, and his legs were pierced by a thousand needles. Giving out a small cry, he slumped back down. Any form of elevation wasn't an option. He would have to drag himself out of the bus.

He moved himself forward on his elbows and forearms, watching for as much glass to avoid as he could in the dim light. Ahead, he saw a glimmer of silver and his breath froze in his lungs. There lay Riku, silver hair an unearthly halo around his head, mouth slightly parted and eyes closed. The only clues that he was dead were the blue tinge to his lips, and the trickle of blood that ran from the corner of his mouth. Roxas pulled himself forward again, trying to find Sora. He was there. Lying on Riku's chest, messy hair crumpled by the weight of dust and ash settled on it. His eyes were wide open, sea and sky blue mixed together, the very same colour as Roxas'. He couldn't breathe. Sora's dead eyes were staring at him from beyond the grave, and watched him with a clarity that shouldn't be there...

Fighting the urge to scream, he moved on. Trying to find a flash of red. He turned, feeling the grass scrapping on his jeans and trying to cut through to his skin, and dragged himself slowly back to where his seat formerly was. As he moved, debris crunching underneath him, he looked for red hair. The boy with the piercings and tattoos must be here somewhere! There was no sign of his friends, however – Roxas hoped they had gotten out. A little movement to his right, and he froze, craning his neck to look over. He could see someone moving, but no identifiable features were visible.

"Hey..." he called out, surprised to find his voice croaky, hoarse and sore. The blond coughed, and tried calling out louder. The movement stopped for a second and then continued, as Roxas pulled himself forward on his arms, gritting his teeth with the effort. And finally, a dull red was visible beneath the dust. The redhead seemed to be trapped under an overturned seat, where it had pinned him at the waist. Roxas pulled himself further forward, until he could see the redhead's face. The redhead looked at him in astonishment, his eyes a bright emerald green and startling. Roxas felt his heart surge, and then he began to speak.

"My name is Roxas Strife. I'm 18. I go to Twilight Hill High School. My favourite subject is English, but I don't really like Biology. I have an older brother, Cloud, he's 22, and a younger sister, Naminé, she's 15. My parents are divorced, and my Dad lives in Radiant Garden with his new wife and her kids. My Mum works at the hospital. She's probably worried about me, but it's... it's okay," Roxas could feel his throat closing up, but he pushed through it, maintaining eye contact with the redhead at all times. "I like bands like Fall Out Boy, but I have a real soft spot for David Bowie. I'm gay," he whispered the last bit, his voice failing him. He looked at the redhead, and waited for him to respond.

"My..." the redhead began, his voice cracking, but he cleared his throat and tried again. "My name is Axel Elliott. I'm 20. I'm working at the moment, as a Bouncer at Oblivion, but I want to go to University to study Art. I have a twin brother, Reno, he's six minute older, and an older sister, Ariel. She's 25, married, to this really nice guy called Eric, and they're having their first kid any day now. I'm supposed to be an Uncle, y'know? And Fall Out Boy is an okay band, but are you stuck in the 80s? David Bowie? Seriously?" they both gave small weak laughs. "I'm gay as well," the redhead added in a sombre voice. There was a long pause, while they stared at each other, blue meeting green and not letting go. "Will you remember me, Roxas?"

"I will," Roxas nodded once, shifting his weight until he could lie down near enough to Axel to see his face, their noses mere inches away from each other. He knew what Axel was asking – Would Roxas, anyone, _someone_, remember him if he died. "But you won't die today, Axel," the blond said, his eyes carefully trained on Axel's. The redhead snorted, and rubbed his face with a hand.

"It kinda looks that way," he said, motioning at the carnage around them. Roxas looked around and felt his stomach drop when he realised he could still see Riku and Sora's bodies from where he lay. He turned his head to look once again at Axel.

"Yeah, it does. But, you won't," Roxas started, reaching with one of his hands to take Axel's. The redhead intertwined their fingers and held on tight. "You're gonna be in the hospital for a while, but I'll come visit you everyday. You might be lucky, my Mum might be your nurse, or your sister will be able to visit you with the baby! When you get out, you'll come by and wait for me afterschool, just to ask me out. Of course, I'll say yes. After making you wait for a few minutes, just to be a tease," they both grinned and chuckled. "We'll date all the way through University, by the way, and then on the day of graduation, you'll propose to me in front of all our friends, and our families. Again, I'll say yes, because who wouldn't? We'll get married a year later, buy a small house near the sea, and settle in. We might have kids, might not. But when we're old enough, and have lived long enough, we'll go to bed one night and just... slip away," Roxas said, his voice dropping into a soothing whisper. Axel's eyes were fluttering as he spoke, and it looked like he was going to go to sleep. Roxas felt tired himself. "We're not going to die here, Axel, I promise you," He squeezed Axel's hand tight and felt a responding pulse, before Axel looked at him again.

"I need to sleep Roxas," he slurred, his eyelids fluttering again. "Will you be here when I wake up?" he asked, and Roxas nodded, his eyelids feeling heavy. "See you later... Rox..." Axel's eyes closed and his mouth went slack, and then Roxas felt himself slipping away, once more.

**qp**

Grey mist swirling. Cracks of light. "Got one!". Hands. "You're okay, son," Hands. "We'll get you out of here." More hands. "Son, you need to let go,". Let go? No. Promises. "Let go, and we can help your friend." Let go... Hands slipping away. More grey. Fog, cloudy, no shapes. "We've got him!". Shouts. Rolling. Someone holding his hand. "We've got you, son, you're okay now,"

Okay now?

But what about...

**qp**

Out of the 23 people on the bus, including the driver, 17 had survived. Riku, Sora and the driver had died on impact, according to autopsies, all from massive head injuries, and the others had succumbed to their injuries in the 6 hours it took for rescue workers to get to them. Apparently, a truck had collided with the bus in a head-on collision, sending the bus off the main road and spiralling into the smaller roads, hitting other cars, before sliding over the edge of a cliff. The bus had rolled to a small flat plain down the cliff-face, stopping, but rescue workers had been unable to reach them and had needed more equipment flown in. Those who could move instantly did, and left the bus, leaving the assumed dead behind. This had included Axel's friends, who Roxas later found out were called Demyx and Zexion.

Roxas returned to school a week and a half after the bus accident. His only injuries included a bad neck from whiplash, and cuts and scrapes from dragging himself around the bus. He had been met by Hayner grabbing hold of him and sobbing into his shirt, apologising and asking for forgiveness. Roxas had brushed him off, accepted Olette's hugs and tearful questions with a quiet dignity, and then excused himself to go and find someone. He sought out Riku's older brothers, the three of them huddled together, an invisible barrier keeping them apart from the other students. Roxas walked straight through it, and approached them.

"My name is Roxas," he started and sought out their faces. Two of the brothers looked at him with blank eyes, faces betraying no emotion, where the eldest had a shaking hand pressed to his mouth, stifling sobs. "I was on the bus with Riku," he added and sparks appeared in their eyes. "I just want you to know..." he started, and found that he was struggling with the words. "I just wanted to let you know that he was with Sora, when he died. They were together, until the end," he said and he felt the tension and grief release themselves from the brothers. Even the two with carefully controlled faces seemed to relax, one of them sliding up the bench, making space for him.

"Sit with us," he said, brushing his one-length silver hair away from his eyes. "Please. We'd love to talk to you," the brothers all nodded, and Roxas gave a small smile and slid into the space created for him. The brothers began to tell him stories about Riku, and Roxas felt himself really smile and laugh for the first time since his world had exploded in a starburst.

**qp**

A month later, and Roxas was mostly healed. No scars had been left by the accident, and his neck was no longer aching. Riku's brothers, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, had taken him under their collective wing, and they had become very close in the last month. Sora's mother had also been in contact, after being told by Riku's father that Roxas had seen the boys, and Roxas tried to meet her for coffee once a week. She had been widowed a few years ago, and Sora had been her only child – she was finding it difficult to cope, but seemed to be getting better, and Roxas was glad to talk to her.

School had let out at the normal time of 4 in the afternoon, and Kadaj had jokingly pushed Roxas, though a bit too hard. The blond had stumbled out the door, and nearly fallen over, except he'd knocked someone. He turned around, mouth opening to begin apologising, and suddenly found his voice had frozen in his throat.

It was Axel. The redhead from the bus. Crutches keeping him standing, and one of his legs bandaged though not in a cast, but there he was, in one piece. Roxas felt his breath leave him in a rush and found his vision suddenly blurred. He was confused – he hadn't cried since before the bus accident. The redhead looked at him for a moment, and then smiled.

"Your Mum's a brilliant nurse, by the way," he said and Roxas laughed, the sound bubbling out of him and causing him to hiccup and splutter. He covered his mouth with his hand, feeing the barrier break and tears slid down his face. He was laughing and crying at the same time. Axel shifted his weight on his crutches, the metal creaking, and he cocked his head. "Do you remember me, Roxas?"

"Yeah," the blond choked, sniffling and reaching for Axel's arm. "I remember you,"

**qp qp**

**Author's Note**: A one-shot to keep you going until the release of Chapter 10 of The Running Sky, which should be later this week! I apologise, but life caught up with me. Enjoy!


End file.
